12.12.12 The River Mnemosyne

Flowing strong and deep from its headwaters in the central Vasnari Mountains, the River Mnemosyne is a prominent fixture upon Meropis, one difficult to miss by any traveller. Purified at its origin by a massive obsidian weir, the Mnemosyne is a source of life and mystery for many upon the continent. Through old Seleucar it meanders and wends, its current closely associated with the Realm of Memory and echoes of the past. As of the Year 1000 following the Empire's Fall, the Mnemosyne's association with memory is more literal than it once was, thanks to the efforts of Lorielan, the Jade Empress.

Imbued with memories of places, creatures, and events by the immense toil of adventurers beyond counting, the Mnemosyne's depths now await intrepid waders ambitious enough to face the challenge set by the Pantheon's Eldest. Its ripples are unending. Its obstacles are many. Its endeavour is a solitary one: each adventurer must go forth alone.

The Trials of the Mnemosyne represent an infinite challenge that differs not only for all adventurers but for all individual runs. Each of its ripples is freshly conjured when the last is conquered, presenting the dungeon delver with enemies ranging from ancient, long-forgotten Vertani, to the undead of Cor Triphyn, elementals, beasts, fauna, flora, ghosts, and even echoes of city guards. Knowledge of Achaea's many denizens will carry you far, lest you get incinerated by a fire elemental or caught off guard by an exploding banovaettr.

While undertaking this challenge, the Gods will lend Their aid in the form of countless boons for you to choose from. These will bolster you in many incredible ways, but some - as many things do - come with potent drawbacks. Choosing wisely is advised.

But there is a small caveat. As you grow stronger, so too do the foes you face. Overcoming one challenge simply leads to the next, and the next, and the next, and the next, and the next... 

WADE MNEMOSYNE
	- Commence a Mnemosynian Trial. This requires you to be beside the whirlpool in ancient Seleucar.
	- You must be on full health and mana to initiate the channel to begin.
	- NOTE: This is an entirely individual endeavour and you cannot bring assistance.
	- Beginning a run incurs a 10 minute cooldown before you can start another should you abandon or die.

WADE STATUS
	- View information about your current run, including any ongoing affixes (see below), progress through the current wave, your current objective, current ripple, and number of lives remaining.

Upon entering the Trial or completing a ripple, you will find yourself in a "hub" location. This location is safe from enemy forces and will allow you to choose a boon.

MNEMOSYNEON
	- Activate the Mnemosyne channel for some notifications.

BOON OPTIONS
	- View the current boons awaiting your selection.

BOON CONTEMPLATE <name> | < BOON#>
    - View information on a potential boon on offer.

BOON[S] CLAIM <name> | <BOON#>
	- Select your preferred boon.

When you have selected a boon (or boons, should you be able to choose multiple), a five second timer will begin, after which the next ripple will become available to you via an exit downwards. Take note: once you enter, you cannot return to the hub room. Death or victory are your only options.

BOON[S] CLAIMED
	- View all of your currently active boons.

Ripples, Archetypes, and Waves
------------------------------

Each ripple is a self-contained challenge typically filled with hostile denizens of an archetype suited to the environment in which you find yourself. Defeating the initial forces may result in additional waves, a boss, or another objective to be overcome. Completing a ripple will allow you to advance to the next ripple, where the process begins anew with a randomly assigned archetype, associated forces, additional boons to select, and of course, increased difficulty.

Each subsequent ripple is more difficult than the last, whether via increased denizen health, damage, speed, or simply more complex enemies, and the true challenge of the Mnemosyne is to wade as deep as you can before death inevitably claims its due. The greatest of waders shall be recognised with rankings, rewards, and fame!

Death and Lives
---------------

A Trial begins with three lives. Dying within a ripple returns you to the location that you began it in, and reduces your available lives by one. Starburst effects will not avail you within the Mnemosyne ripples and cannot prevent loss of a life, but other methods of cheating death such as soulcage or similar will behave as normal (unless modified by a boon or affix of course). Should you reach zero lives, you will immediately be forced to embrace death, your run will be over, and you will need to start again from scratch.

Certain boons may grant additional lives, but survival will be dependent on your ability to overcome the challenge before you and intelligently select boons to prolong your life as much as possible.

LEAVE MNEMOSYNE
	- Begin channeling to depart the Mnemosyne's ripples.
	- During an invasion, leaving takes significantly longer.

Affixes
-------

In addition to the extra difficulty imposed per ripple, affixes provide an extra layer of challenge. At level 5, each ripple will feature one affix. At level 10, two. At level 15, three will be in effect. These affixes are newly rolled on each ripple and may include major shifts in the environment, entire changes to the rules for that ripple, enhanced denizen effects, and more.

Rewards
--------

Upon conclusion of a Trial, you will be awarded with a number of shimmering threads commensurate with the amount of ripples you successfully completed. This currency can be spent on a variety of unique rewards including mounts, pets, cosmetic styles for your speaking and shouting voices, forging descriptors, trinkets, talisman caches, and other miscellany. 

MEMORYSHOP or MEMSHOP LIST
	- View wares available

MEMORYSHOP SHOW <item ID>
	- Inspect a specific reward

MEMORYSHOP BUY <item ID>
	- Buy an item

MEMORYSHOP BALANCE
	- Examine your amount of shimmering threads

MEMORYSHOP CONFIGURE
	- Toggle on or off or otherwise adjust any customisation options you have obtained from the shop.

In addition to this, completing ripples awards renown and honours are available for those who complete certain ripple thresholds, as well as a unique honour that may be only held by one adventure alone: whosoever holds the record for the deepest ripple waded, and subsequently claims first upon the official rankings. 

RANKINGS MNEMOSYNE [PLAYER]
	- View the rankings for Mnemosyne Trials.
	- Specifying an adventurer will show you the boons they had on their best recorded run in addition to which denizens brought their run to an end.

Invasions
----------

While wading the Mnemosyne is a single-adventurer endeavour, its ripples are not fully safe from hostile adventurer attention. Should someone with sufficient reasoning to attack you choose to do so, they may initiate an invasion.

WADE INVADE <target>
	- While beside the whirlpool in Seleucar, begin channeling to invade the target's ripple.
	- This is a lengthy channel and the target in question is warned of your attempt.
	- Upon entering the target's ripple, the invasion commences and special conditions take effect.

Wade Invasion Rules
--------------------

	- During an active invasion, all denizens are invincible and will no longer track or wander.
	- During an active invasion, all adventurers will be forced out of phase, blackwind, astral, or other incorporeal states every 10 seconds.
	- Denizens will retain any aggression and will attack on sight whether defender or invader.
	- Only one attacker may be present for an in-progress invasion with the ripple's owner, unless they choose to call for help (see below).
	- When the ripple owner dies to another adventurer, all invaders are removed.
	- When an invader dies by any means, they are immediately forced to embrace death.
	- Should the ripple owner die to a denizen and not an invader, the invasion will persist. 
	- While an invasion is active, the ripple owner will resurrect in the first location of the zone, and will not return to the hub.
	- The ripple owner retains the benefits and penalties of all boons during an invasion. 
	- If neither adventurer is dead after a period of fifteen minutes, the invasion will time out and the invader will be removed.

WADE STATUS
	- Should an invasion be in progress, status will reflect such.

CALL FOR HELP
	- Should the ripple owner desire, they can call for help to lift the restriction on the number of adventurers allowed within the invasion.
	- This will allow anyone (and any number) to invade and join the battle, be they friend or foe.

LEAVE MNEMOSYNE
	- Begin channeling to depart the Mnemosyne's ripples.
	- When only the original wader remains, the invasion will end.
	- During an invasion, leaving takes significantly longer.

Note: Wade invasions adhere to standard conflict rules. A sufficient reason to attack someone is required to launch an invasion and doing so is considered a hostile act, allowing the target to retaliate and such should they desire. Simply being within the Mnemosyne is not sufficient reasoning, and we will look very un-fondly on those who invade without justification. Being mark or otherwise open to attack from any target is, as always, sufficient, but we recommend caution for your foe may be armed with various boons.